


Too Close For Comfort

by VagabondCode



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Flashbacks, M/M, Past Child Abuse, Sexuality Crisis, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-26
Updated: 2016-06-26
Packaged: 2018-07-18 08:19:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7307290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VagabondCode/pseuds/VagabondCode
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After hearing about the massacre in Florida, Leonard Snart struggles with memories of his past and his father, and tries to find some amount of peace within himself.</p>
<p>(Inspired by a real event)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Too Close For Comfort

**Author's Note:**

> Set sometime before the Legends and Flash finales, during a break to 2016 perhaps? Tailor it to your imagination.

    Leonard Snart stared at the television in shock. 49… dead? 49 dead. In an attack specifically against LGBT people. He couldn't think, couldn't breathe...

    He forced his lungs to work again and closed his eyes, struggling to keep off the bad memories. He gripped the glass of cold beer in his hand tighter, and his other palm curled into a fist atop the wooden table of the bar.

    Obviously he wasn't an idiot. He knew people had issues with the LGBT. How could he not? But most of the time they kept it private, kept it in their own homes. The fact that someone had the gall to do such a thing - cause such a massacre - was almost unthinkable.

 

_[35 years ago]_

_"FAGGOT! Disgusting piece of shit! Get out of my house and away from my son!"_

_Lewis Snart points a gun at his partner in the CCPD, who is shuddering and begging for mercy._

_"Please... Please, help my find my boyfriend. He's been kidnapped. You can kill me after, do whatever you want, but please..."_

_The gunshot rings out, loud and clear, and the man falls to the ground, dead. His head starts to gush blood onto the carpet. Lewis turns slowly to his son, cowering behind the couch._

_"You listen here, kiddo. Don't ever turn out like him. His kind are a disease, you got me?"_

_Young Leo nods quickly._

_"Good... now clean up this mess."_

_Lewis walks upstairs, leaving Leo to grab a sponge and bleach, and vow never to tell his father about the boy in his class with the bright blue eyes..._

 

    Leonard's eyes snapped open and he scowled, downing his drink. His sister had wanted to label him as pansexual, when he'd told her about his first boyfriend. Whatever that meant. He didn't really care about gender, or looks. Made a point of it, too, soon as he got away from his dad. You could call it one last 'fuck you' to the man who'd caused him so much pain.

 

_[29 years ago]_

_"Son, you ever slept with a woman?"_

_Leo's eyes go wide as he shakes his head nervously. Lewis smirks at him._

_"That's what I thought."_

_Two days later, Leo's dad drives him to a strip club. Comes out with a barely of-age brunette lady, wearing only lingerie. Leo takes one look at her and runs away, not wanting anything to do with this poor woman. She's worn, used, soulless... He's found two hours later, sobbing behind a dumpster._

_That night his father takes him home and gets out a spatula, pounding Leo with it until it breaks over the boy's head._

_"Waste of money, waste of time, you useless little shit!"_

_Lewis grabs a wine decanter and throws it at Leo. It hits him in the chest, smashing into a thousand tiny pieces._

_"Let this be a lesson."_

_Next week, his father comes home with an older, uglier woman. Leo cares more about the hopeless look in her eyes than her age. She goes into his bedroom and Leo starts to beg. Begs her not to do it, to tell his father he isn't a virgin anymore. She agrees and they spend the night talking about better ways to get finances._

_In the morning, his father kicks her out and grins at Leo with a gleam of dark pride in his eyes. The young boy shudders and goes on pretending_.

 

    The bar started to close and Leonard sighed, slapping a hundred on the table and telling the server to keep the change. He wandered out into the chilly street, crossing the few blocks to the nearest safehouse. Collapsing on his bed, he closed his eyes in an attempt to sleep.

 

_[24 years ago]_

_She's young, she's beautiful, and she's totally wrapped around his finger. The 19-year-old Len Snart smirks to himself as he flirts with the tall blonde secretary in charge of the main LexCorp building. It's easy enough to steal a key off a nearby guard, and the passcode from the woman as she types it into her computer unthinkingly. She seems nice. He almost considers bringing her home until he spots a lighter patch of skin where a ring would be._

_Emotionally damaged, most likely. Divorced, probably. He doesn't do emotionally damaged._

_When he comes home from a successful heist that night, he finds a lock of bloodied brown hair on his pillow, and a note._

_~Did you think I'd stay in prison long? I warned you about the consequences of hanging out with his kind.~_  
_-L.S._

_A quick search on the Internet reveals last week's one-night stand - A farmer boy Len had met speed dating - now skinned alive and left in front of the CCPD._  
_The younger Snart doesn't leave his room until ten hours later, when the police catch Lewis holed up just outside the city. The lock of hair is placed in a jar on Len's shelf, and he never sleeps with another man again_.

 

    Rolling over in his bed, Leonard picked up his phone and scrolled through his contacts, stopping when he reached the name Barry Allen. Once he'd found out the kid's secret identity, it wasn't hard to find his number in the CCPD database. Leonard had saved it in his phone, unused. Unwilling to delete it but too afraid to call without a good reason.

    But... It was time to stop worrying about what people thought. Stop letting his father control his life, even after death.

    Taking a deep breath, Leonard closed his eyes, memories flashing by. Maybe not a call yet. Baby steps.

    He opened his eyes and started a chat screen with Barry.

    Sent: ~Hey, Red. Up for coffee? I can tell you about the dinosaurs we fought on a mission once.~

    A moment later, his phone pinged.

    Received: ~COLD?!~

    Received: ~Yeah, never mind. I don't wanna know.~

    Received: ~Coffee's good. Meet at Jitter's in 10?~

    Received: ~Can't sleep anyways.~

    Leonard chuckled to himself and replied.

    Sent: ~That's fine. See you in ten minutes.~

    He looked at himself in the mirror, before changing into a nicer shirt. Grabbing his phone and keys, he started out the door, sparing one last glance at the jar with a lock of hair in it on his windowsill. He smiled slightly. Yeah, this was good.

    Flicking off the lights, Leonard stepped back out onto the street, and off towards a fresh start, and maybe, even... a chance to change.

**Author's Note:**

> So this kinda came out of nowhere, but I was feeling sad about the recent LGBT attacks and I guess I needed to someplace to vent.
> 
> Also I got a little creative with the tenses, setting current events in past tense and memories in present tense, to make them feel more vivid and real. So I hope it's good.


End file.
